Quotable

"Since I was 18, I have been unable to buy suitable shoes. When other villagers go to towns and cities for work in the slack season, I'm trapped at home because I don't have shoes."

Huduyum Berdi, from Hetian prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who has feet measuring 33 cm long and wears a European size 56 shoe, talks about the difficulties he faces finding shoes. Recently the poor farmer has been flooded with offers of footwear after the local government launched a campaign to ease his plight.